Chapter 159: Preparation for War (5)
It wasn’t a misunderstanding.
I tried several times, but truly, nothing happened.
“Why is this happening? If you truly take on the appearance of a Dweller of the Deep, is it impossible to undergo the initiation ritual?”
When a human goes through this ritual, their body transforms into that of a Dweller of the Deep.
But since I already had the appearance of a dweller, I speculated that the ritual might be impossible.
*Swoosh.*
I transformed my body back to its form suited for the deep seas, releasing the dweller transformation.
However, this effort was in vain as the initiation ritual failed once again.
“Initially, the fact that the scripture turned into bubbles is a clear indication of rejection.”
It was difficult to ascertain the reason. Was it because I killed many dwellers?
I wondered how many Foreign Gods would even concern themselves with such a thing.
Of course, they might care for their devotees considering their status as a kind of patriarch.
“Or perhaps seeing my actions, they deemed me untrustworthy?”
There was a possibility that they wanted to indirectly help Cahon and acquire my black blood.
“I can’t ask directly, so… I suppose I should abandon this plan.”
Not only was the recently discovered food supply issue a significant setback, but it was also a major hindrance in solving quite a few matters.
“Especially the food supply… I need to discuss this with others.”
I swam back to shore.
“… It really is you, Ethnos?”
“My goodness… how did you end up like that?”
As I emerged onto land, my companions were shocked beyond words.
“Did you really need to get that ugly, uncle?”
Then I realized that I had climbed back up in the form fit for the deep sea without reverting to my normal appearance.
“I look like a blobfish.”
In this ludicrous situation, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Oh? Your appearance is returning to normal.”
“That’s good. You looked like an inflated pig in water.”
They were being quite harsh. After returning to my original form, I explained that the initiation ritual as a dweller had failed.
“So, was that appearance a side effect of the failure?”
“When deep-sea creatures come to the surface, they end up like that due to pressure differences.”
“As expected, uncle, you were never human to begin with!”
I playfully smacked Talia on the head.
“But there’s a more serious issue: it seems like the dwellers have driven away all the fish.”
“The fish?”
“Yes, it seems like something we need to discuss with the priest here. Let’s head to the sanctuary and talk there.”
We moved to a spacious room in the sanctuary and gathered for a meeting.
As this was not just a simple battle but a war, there were many topics to discuss, and it took time to organize everything.
“As I mentioned earlier, the food supply is a pressing issue. The main food source on this archipelago is fish, and now the catch will drop to unsustainably low levels.”
Of course, there was agriculture on the island, but it wouldn’t be nearly enough.
“Hunting and eating monsters also have their limits. On top of that, those monsters tend to be highly toxic.”
“Is there no way to neutralize the poison using magic?”
“If it were other animals, maybe, but the poison from monsters is hard to neutralize with magic.”
When Talia inquired casually, Cernun shook his head.
“Even the corpses of monsters are resistant to magic. The returns would be far too insignificant compared to the effort.”
I also proposed an idea.
“Then, how about accelerating the growth of crops using magic?”
“The Empire is conducting research on that, but the method still has many unresolved issues. We could try it, but there’s a higher chance of failure and side effects.”
If worse comes to worst, Cernun delivering supplies through 〈Teleport〉 like a courier is an option, albeit inefficient.
“I knew logistics were crucial in war, but facing it down is far more challenging than anticipated.”
Wars often failed due to supply issues, and this was a glaring example.
“I do have a method, but it’s not reliable.”
Unexpectedly, it was Delion, who seemed unrelated to such topics, who spoke up.
“What method is that?”
“Using miracles. Among the miracles I can wield, there are those that bring about abundance and bountiful harvests. If we combine them with the relic, Phoebus…”
“It’s quite a reasonable method.”
Phoebus had multiple effects, like making the sun shine brighter or amplifying miracles mediated by music, and was useful in the current situation.
“I haven’t used this specific miracle before, but I’ll give it a try.”
In addition, we discussed constructing defensive lines along the coast and measures for protecting the residents of Haggios Archipelago.
“It’s exhausting…”
Talia was nearly worn out.
“Now that you’re guarding and representing a region, it’s best to get used to it.”
As expected of the leader of a mercenary group, Ender imparted various pieces of advice to Talia.
“I was lacking in this area, so it’s a good thing.”
Since I frequently acted as an individual, I was bound to be inexperienced in commanding large forces.
It’s always convenient to leave things to capable individuals and focus on what I can do.
“Why do they want me to fight in this form again…”
I transformed into Pleroma to assist in the training of others.
Whenever asked to choose a punching bag, they seemed to invariably choose Pleroma’s appearance.
“This is supposedly the spider that appeared at Wave Reach? Looks like it has wings instead of legs. And it’s… creepy. Oh, never mind.”
Everyone participated except for Cernun, who was merely observing.
Delion tightly gripped Phoebus, still finding it hard to believe he was wielding such a magnificent relic.
“Alright. If you’re ready… come at me!”
I also intended to become more accustomed to Pleroma form through this training. I spread spider silk toward my companions.
“Delion!”
“Yes! I’m on it!”
The Ansandy pair remained surprisingly in sync. Delion boosted Ansandy, who then slashed a flaming blue sword in tune.
Talia, waiting to unleash a miracle beyond the flaming webs.
“You have shoes that let you fly. If you had used your momentum to avoid the webs, an opportunity to use a miracle would’ve come by now.”
“Oh… yes!”
While offering this feedback, Ender swung his blackened great sword.
I managed to distance myself, but something dark flew from that sword.
“… Mary?!”
It was an unexpected pincer attack.
Mary had been clinging onto Ender’s great sword. Using the swung sword’s thrust as momentum, Mary came flying at me, turning her arms into axes.
*Crunch!*
Mary’s axe embedded in my spider leg. I quickly severed the leg to prevent Mary from pressing further inside.
“Handling this many opponents alone isn’t easy.”
They were all formidable opponents. As Eldritch rained down water from above, obstructing my view, Talia followed up with a bolt of lightning.
Talia’s lightning attack, in particular, hurt immensely.
“〈Rain of Grace〉.”
I endured with Pleroma’s exceptional recovery abilities, retaliating without delay.
“Talia, shield!”
“Yes!”
Talia raised Athena’s relic, ‘Aegis.’ The spider silk, as it flew like spears, was swept away by the shield’s colorless waves.
“A shockwave emission function. You’re using it correctly this time.”
Satisfied, I proceeded with the next attack. Standing against the wave of spider silk was a wall made of sand.
The sand that Lyla had summoned transformed into an iron wall through morph magic.
*Ding!*
With the cheerful ringing of Phoebus, those at the front leaped over the iron wall.
Reinforced by Delion’s miracle, Ender’s great sword and Mary’s axe flew from both sides, while Ansandy’s rapier, enveloped in blue flames, lunged in between.
“They plan to press relentlessly all at once? Not bad. But to confront a beast, you’ll need to push more of your skills.”
I didn’t evade and charged forward with the brutish mass of Pleroma. I withstood their fierce attacks with bodily resilience and recovery.
“You brute! 〈Convert-Quicksand〉!”
As I attempted to break through the frontlines, Lyla turned the ground into quicksand to hinder me.
“〈Wall of Wave〉!”
On top of that, Eldritch erected a massive wall of water.
“This won’t stop me.”
Breaking free from the quicksand, I shattered through both the frontline and the wall Eldritch created.
Finally, Talia came into view.
“Seems like they were blocking my sight and buying time.”
She was preparing a significant miracle for the finishing strike.
“O ruler of thunder that rends the heavens, punish and condemn the evil before me. 〈Thunderous Judgement〉!”
With a tremendous noise that echoed through the sky, lightning struck instantly.
It was such a fierce blow that even the brutish durability of Pleroma could hardly withstand it, leaving my body paralyzed and difficult to move.
Above all, the area struck by lightning wasn’t healing well.
“But… you shouldn’t be complacent, Talia.”
*Whoosh!*
Talia, thinking she struck true and about to approach, was startled and flew up, narrowly avoiding a giant spider silk whip.
She managed to evade using Hermes’ relic ‘Talaria’, but had her response been a fraction slower, she would’ve been caught by the counterattack.
“Even after taking that hit directly… how…!?”
『You shouldn’t underestimate the vitality of creatures beyond the 4th rank. Moreover, when equipped with a relic, it’s genuinely unkillable.』
Pleroma I manifested had far inferior recovery capabilities compared to the real one that appeared at Wave Reach.
If it had been that Pleroma, even if over half of its body was blown away, it would’ve instantly regenerated.
『While we prepare, the enemies are also preparing, in the most sinister and devious ways.』
Although it would be great to prevent such schemes in advance, as experienced at Wave Reach, it wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
『Always assume the worst scenario when fighting.』
“Yes!”
As we prepared to resume training.
“I have something to say.”
Cernun approached Ansandy’s side.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’ve watched closely, and you… have a habit of subconsciously handling mana like a mage.”
Ansandy fell silent at Cernun’s observation.
“Come to think of it, Ansandy mentioned the ability to use magic.”
Yet, throughout this training, Ansandy hadn’t used magic once. Nor in any other battle.
“Why don’t you use magic even though you can? Your fighting style would probably shine even brighter with it.”
“… For personal reasons. I don’t use magic.”
“If I’m judging correctly, I understand why, but it’d be good for you to explain it personally.”
“I’m not inclined to, but if I must—”
“But before that.”
Cutting off Ansandy, Cernun gestured, and something sprang from the ground. From the earth emerged an unknown corpse.
“I expected an interesting story like this would be eavesdropped on. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”
Cernun eyed the corpse. It was a familiar and exasperating…
“Oh my, I’ve been caught?”
…voice of Sharl laughing.